THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE TO FIND GIGS IN ENGLAND

(please scroll down, for my latest entry)

This is a diary, of my struggles to find gigs, in England. Maybe it will be of some comfort to you. Maybe you will read this and realize that you have a gig for me, either way, I hope it will be of some interest.
Peace, Eric.

+)(+

Thanks for your support and encouragement during 2009. I have decided to get myself a proper job, so I can continue being a gypsy on the weekends. So I will be doing free-bees, and the occassional Church gig, but for now I am officially off circuit. If you would like to book me for a gig please write to me at katoikei@googlemail.com
If you are a bassist or a drummer, and would dig to jam with me, send your email to katoikei@googlemail

Free Performances, and Church Gigs in Norwich 2010

Update 16 May 2009:

After thinking of going and getting myself a nine-fiver, and making some enquiries, I eventually got into some serious talks with the employment experts and counsellors. After a few sessions it became crystal clear to me that what I have been doing for the last 22 years makes more sense than going back into the work place, and being that getting work when I am always on the move is hard, it suddently dawned on me that I could busk on the streets. LOL! So if you are ever in North Walsham and you see me playing, drop a pound or five in my guitar case. Thanks for the prayers and positive thoughts. I have done three days so far. Whoopee!!!

Update 22 May 2009:

I did two days in a row (4 + 5 ) and as I was walking home each day I had to seperate insights. (a) I don’t need to carry the weight of the world on ‘my’ back, seeing as the Holy Spirit is convicting the world of sin (because people do not believe on Jesus) and righteousness (because Jesus is no longer here to teach us) and judgment (because the prince of this world is judged) (b) I remembered earlier times when I trusted the Lord implicitly to provide for all my needs, and my faith swelled. Hey this busking is really a blessing!!! Once again, thank-you for the prayer and positive thoughts. Yay!!!

Update 23 May 2009:

A Sunny Sunday, and my seventh day of busking (not in a row). It was actually so hot it reminded me of home.
I found a shady spot and jammed. It was a really spiritually free time and it is these times that remind me of the reason
why I love playing on the streets. The open sky and the a really amazing wind came up and I found myself singing a few
spontaneous songs. The first went like this ‘Rain your vengeance down on me, …’ and the second was ‘Teach me to laugh like a child
, run when I’m wild, hide in the shadows sometimes. Teach me to flow like a brook (stream) and then something about the wind and so on
and on. What a superb day!

Bookings: 2010

11. “The Music House” (Norwich) – 11th June 2010

Update: 14 July 2007

I plead “chicken”. Well, not entirely. Our bearings are seized, and we are no longer as close to Norwich as we were at first, but that is not enough excuse not to play at “The Music House.”

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The day before yesterday, I found my muse, and finally set up the mobile studio, and am set to record the songs I have penned and performed since arriving England in Feb. 2008.

The street busking is a terror by day (being a night owl), that I just cannot bring myself to do any more.

On a positive note, I found a place to hire equipment, and get my usual strings. Now all I need is a place to play, a place which pays me for my efforts.

Please pray for me.

Love,
Eric.

ps1. I added my details to a couple of North Walsham sites, those which advertise what's going on. (check the top of this page)

ps2. I missed Dylan at Hop Farm Festival. (grrrrrrrrrrrrrr) It was just too far to travel, and too much to pay at the moment. I guess I will probably get to watch it on you tube.

+)(++)26 July 2010(++)(+

+)Update: In Studio : “u n k n o w n l a n d s c a p e s”(+

It’s nice to finally be on my way, with a new album. After three years of basking in the afterglow of a dream come true, and getting used to the metal in my heart, I finally remembered that it’s time to keep on truckin’ in the name of the Lord …. “JESUS”

“Well, it’s a sweet Jesus Morning”

Love,
Eric

Update: 9 August 2010

The weather has been simply amazing. It reminds me of Cape Town’s warm sun. Lovely warm sun.
I finally plucked up enough courage to head out onto the streets again. I played about a three hour set, on my favorite section of street between the parking lot and the supermarket. It is always great to play, and I guess I forget that, but I got into it so quickly and played and played and played. I am learning to find my way around the harmonica, in a new way. Plus the piece I have been working on (instrumental – Unknown Landscapes) is beginning to really take form.

Update: 10 August 2010

I spent the whole day, looking at the weather, and then finally just went down mid-afternoon, and played for about three hours. At some point I got really dizzy and started to shake, I am not sure if it was inspiration or starvation, but I made quite a few beans and was able to buy some nice koss (food)
This time I decided to take a couple of photographs, to bring you into the zone. So if you bookmark this, you should see them, in a few minutes.
I had such a great time, playing the blues, and just feeling my way on a very special day. (actually, I am not sure about these last two dates, but I do know that I played two in a row. )

On the way home, I decided to take a short cut up to the other supermarket, to buy the goodies (food) and saw that ‘The White Swan’ was open for business. Oh, yeah! I had tried for a booking, when I first arrived, and they told me to come back in July. So I did, and the place was shut down. Maybe they should have employed me. Well, there it was open and all, so I strolled on in, and not knowing it was under new management. I told the story and hey! I got an audition on Sunday. So here is my second booking for 2010.

Bookings: 2010

12. “The White Swan” (North Walsham) – 15 August 2010

It’s and audition, so if you are going to come, be nice to me, by chucking some money in my hat. I start playing a little after 12 midday! Woohoo…pap strings, borrowed speakers and all. Jamming again!! Woohoo!!!
Plus, I got wind of a gig in the pipeline, but I ain’t telling you yet, cause of the spies on the network…they are everywhere…woh….woe.

Keep on Truckin’ Mi Amigos!

Update: 15 August 2010

I think this picture says it all.

Though it is true, that a picture can paint a thousand words, it often takes a thousand words to explain a picture. Okay, I did not make that up, the first time I heard it was in a lecture by Dr. Gordon H. Clark. However, what I have been learning lately, is that often it is the artists and musicians, who are able to express many things hard to explain through the words alone.

( if you cannot view this video: Credo of Mass in B Minor by Johann Sebastian BACH! )

‘In this study I have referred more than once to the Isenheim altar-piece by the medieval painter Grünewald. It was the resurrection body that he depicted, not the immortal soul. Similarly, another artist, John Sebastian Bach, has made it possible for us to hear, in the Credo of the Mass in B Minor, the musical interpretation of the words of this ancient creed which faithfully reproduces the New Testament faith in Christ’s resurrection and our own. The jubilant music of this great composer is intended to express not the immortality of the soul but the event of the resurrection of the body: Et resurrexit tertia die . . . Expecto resurrectionem mortuorum et vitam venturi saeculi. And Handel, in the last part of the Messiah, gives us some inkling of what St Paul understood by the sleep of those who rest in Christ; and also, in the song of triumph, Paul’s expectation of the final resurrection when the ‘last trumpet shall sound and we shall be changed’. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Whether we share this hope or not, let us at least admit that in this case the artists have proved the best expositors of the Bible.’

‘Immortality of the soul, or Resurrection of the body’ by Oscar Cullman (From: Pretersite Rez Resourses

(if you cannot view this video: some inkling of what St Paul understood by the sleep of those who rest in Christ)

(if you cannot view this video: the song of truimph, Paul’s expectation of the final resurrection when the ‘last trumpet shall sound and we shall be CHANGED!)

Soli Deo Gloria.
Eric.

Booking 2010: Update – 21 August 2010

13. “The White Swan” (North Walsham) – 22nd August 2010

The second gig, is always the hard one, especially seeing as hopefully that will be the marker upon which the owners of a new venue determine what they are going to pay you. Not really being much of a money-grabber, though I am not shy to ask, I hate this part of it! After the audition tip, which is normally about a 5th of what you can hope to take home at future gigs, some pub/restaurant owner are honest and upfront and will discuss the fact, but very often they tend to leave it up to you to press the point. So I guess that is my next move. I hate to do it, because there is the slim chance that one might get those all to familiar words, ‘We don’t have enough to pay you’ or ‘You don’t seem to be drawing a crowd’. So one has to be brave, tough and ready for the cold shoulder. I guess in a sense, it is like the proverbial second date, but for me it will be the third date: (I will try to remember to take some photographs of the pub, for the next entry. Your prayers and good vibes are welcome. Oh, how did it go? It was great! I played for about 5 hours, with a small break in the middle somewhere. In the last set, I managed to explore some of my Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young covers, plus a few America tunes. My pipes were totally open, so it was really a peak experience, but the pub was not as full as I would have liked it to be. Gotta get some adverts out in the shops!
The strings are beginning to sing too much, that’s what happens when one puts electrics on an acoustic buck, it works a bit but then it begins to become weird. In the end, there is nothing better than a set of bronze 11s. Rotosound or D’jarrios. < I will sort out the spelling next time. Gotta go now. Peace and thanks, Eric.

14. “The White Swan” (North Walsham) – 29th August 2010

“Stood-up for a Karaoke Machine”

Odd thing, as I was walking up to the gig, this afternoon, I turned to my son and said, “I always prepare myself for the eventuality, that a gig might be cancelled.” (for such is the nature of the beast) and added, “and so I am ready to ask for, the money that it cost me to loan this speaker,” and we trundled on up the road, to the corner, crossed over and made our way to the doorway to ‘The White Swan’. BLOW ME DOWN!!! right there in front of my eyes on the chalk-board are the words “KARAOKE – Sunday” – The first thought that flashed through my mind was, “Maybe, they will have that later on” , seeing as I was completely confident about my performances on the two previous Sunday afternoons. In fact, the responses had been warm, positive and the last thing on my mind was that I had been replaced.
We entered the pub quickly and next thing, ringing out from the bar like a bell are the words, no busker likes to hear, “NO MUSIC TONIGHT!” Ouch! Quickly stepping forward, I pointed to my speaker and said, “but…I paid to rent this speaker?” No problem, the cash was whipped out of the till and I was back on the street. So on Monday, and Tuesday, I shall be doing my usual street busking routine to earn what I would of for a six hour stint, with a brief break at the pub. To be honest, after weighing up the beans, I had already begun thinking what is the point.
It’s weird how much heavier a load becomes, when your heart is heavy. Anyhow, we struggled home, and I decided I would take my camera and return and take photograph of the chalk-board, just for the memory how I got stood up for a Karaoke Machine, on my third gig in North Walsham. (It would certainly have made a great photograph)…..but I was to discover a whole other picture when I returned…..

The chalk board was wiped clean. Apparently, the Karaoke was a lot of money, and so they had to cancel. Hard times, and equally hard times for solo-guitar acts. In retrospect, as I sat playing in the gigs, I kept thinking of how grand my street busking experience had been, and I kinda pined a bit. Well, I don’t really have any options now….maybe a few good ideas, but I am keeping those secret just in case some Karaoke magician is reading this, and tries there luck at my next venue. So for now, if you wanna catch my act, you will have to track me down ……… on the street. I am street – level !

15. “Busking Near Sainsbury Shopping Center” (North Walsham) – Dates Unknown/Depending on Weather Conditions

Update: 22 September 2010.

I cannot believe how fast time is flying again. I guess it’s like that when one figures out what to do. Playing on the street is simply, …beautiful! Though I loved the years of playing in pubs and restaurants, my greatest enjoyment was working with bands, and doing gigs in the open air.

The one BIG difference, is that I can completely set the pace, and also introduce new songs, that I enjoy.

I have been thinking about working out a few songs, but the names allude me now. Actually that is what it is like, instead of having a rigid set of songs to work through, though I tended to be quite flexible, now there is no music stand, and the clouds and the sky are my reminders. No doubt the Spirit of God, is also guiding me as He has always done, though I am not always conscious of that.

Sometimes, I just stand there and cannot think of a thing to play, and sometimes I will wait until I do, other times I will just busk and see what happens.

The best think happened on my last set session. Suddenly up walks a fellow busker and next things she has bought a copy of ‘Peace Dove’ – Thank you Lord, for those small mercies. Just when I thought I was going to go home with only a few pound to show for my days efforts.
Though surprises are not the order of the day, it is certainly nice when they do happen.

We have been having such excellent weather, but after three days in a row, I decided to give it a break and recuperate, and then go again soon.
So if you are out there and you see me. Don’t forget to drop a coin in my magic guitar case. It really helps me play better, as well as gaurantee that there is food on the table. Bless you, if you have already drop a coin in my magic guitar case. LOL!